


Gays for the Win

by Clofix



Series: Gays for the Win [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Ai being annoying, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Fluff, Gay, Im not sure yet, M/M, My first published fanfic, Not Beta Read, Nudity, Rin could be anything, but also swear language, cook Haru, might become very explicit, please be easy on me lol, what gay you dont say such a surprise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:03:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7866940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clofix/pseuds/Clofix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin and Haru compete together at the quarter-finals of the world championship. They realize that they share not only a passion for swimming.<br/>And so they start to get close again. Their family helps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Gay for the Win

It was before the quarter-finals on the world championship. Haru and Rin had been meeting several times over the course of the competition, even raced each other two times, each of them winning once. But that third time, in a knock-out match they faced each other on a new level.

It had been a month at this time since Rin had came out to not only his family but the large social circle, letting Haru's squad know as well. Surprisingly to him, no one took it as a big deal and some said they had assumed something like that because he had never had a girlfriend before.

Overall, it changed nothing in his life and it was not like, once he left the closet, guys would line up immediately for him to date. He had had a few blind dates with guys but they all turned out to be more or less after his body and Rin figured, that if there was someone interested in the same stuff as him, living relatively close to him, he would already know them from school or competitions.

Although still being single, he wore his gay pride like a badge of honour and, openly admitted to it, even in interviews. If he was asked for it, of course. Sometimes he admitted it so openly that he had said “Gays for the win!“ while taking his position before a race begun several times in that month.

  
  


Rin was going to do the same today. It was a knock-out match and if he wanted to get to the finals, which was undoubtedly the case, a bit of extra luck really couldn't hurt, could it?

He wasn't even that startled when Haru appeared next to him and started preparing himself. It wasn't the first time racing next to Haru and Rin was sure he might even enjoy it. And so he continued his preparations as planned, positioning himself on the start block. To not waste any precious breath, “Gays for the win!“ was said now already.

Not too soon because now everyone was to prepare for the start. Haru next to him did. He turned his head into Rin's direction, flipping his hair towards Rin, and asking “gays for the win?” before tying it under the swimming cap. He then let out a hoarse laugh and turned back to the pool.

“Too bad we can't both win then, huh“, he added, just before the first whistle.

Rin was completely startled and it took him a moment to act out the whistles orders. No, he could not think about this now. Swimming. Water. Concentrate. Focus. Rin got back into the rhythm of the whistles, going for the dive perfectly-timed as always.

As soon as he found his rhythm, got used to the breathing and had taken his first turn, his mind just slipped back to what Haru had just done. Rin had never considered Haru as someone to love anything but water. But that didn't really matter, because-

He had to concentrate on taking the second turn where he noticed he was even with Haru-

Because he had said “Gays for the win!“. So all gays included. He would cheer for Haru if he won this one. Which of course didn't mean he would let him win just like that. With this thought, Rin turned on his maximum strength for the last row, after taking a final turn.

He stretched out desperately on the last metres, wanting to be the winner and therefore completely failed to notice Haru, who was still even with him. Only when he had already stretched out his hand a metre from the pools edge his eyes wandered off to the neighbour row, and he briefly caught a glimpse of Haru's relaxed, watery face. How could you be so relaxed in he quarter-finals, and still be that good?

Again, Rin's thought was interrupted, this time simply by looking at the scoreboard. He had scored almost exactly as good as Haru, who was like two milliseconds behind him. It didn't matter though, second place meant you were in the semi-finals too.

It took Rin a while to take his eyes off the scoreboard, as happy as he was, even after he left the water. When he did, it was only to check out Haru's reaction, which was his smile. When Haru noticed that Rin was watching him, his smile got even wider and he walked over to Rin.

“Rin. Did I scare you?“ he said kindly.

Rin couldn't help but scratch his neck in awkwardness. “Haha, you surprised me is all. I'm glad I was able to refocus. I don't want to lose a knock-out race because of something like that. And Haru, you were wrong. We actually both moved up to the semi-finals so I guess we both won somehow.“

Haru's smile deepened and he nodded.

Rin returned the smile and patted Haru's shoulder. Usually, he would've laid his arm completely around them, but the memory of earlier held him back somehow. Afraid to be weird, Rin started moving towards the changing rooms, waving at Haru and smiling one last time before disappearing from his sight.

In the cooler changing room he did not get to change, really, because as soon as he had his swimming trunks down, Ai appeared next to him. Rin had to give up on changing. Instead, he was showered with cute compliments and cheers. Rin gave in to his fluffy mindset and left the changing room with Ai, after putting on only his jacket and shoes. They were discussing how strong Rin's opponents had been, which Rin had not taken notice of at all, when Rin's phone rang. Rin excused himself and walked a few steps away. “Hello?“

„Oni-chan! You won! And Haru too! We're all so proud of you.” He heard his sister shout in excitement. He giggled into the phone, noticing a red warning signal when looking at the screen.

“Thank you all so much, Kou-chan! I'm really sorry but my phone seems to be out of battery. Talk to you, o-” he was cut off by his phone turning off. Rin stared at it angrily for a second before putting it away. He should have really turned it off before the race, it had already been quite low.

Finally, he turned back to Ai. “Excuse me, Ai-san, but my sister wanted to congratulate me.“

Ai just seemed to be glad that Rin's attention was back on him and waved his hand, gesturing Rin not do worry.

“No problem at all” he said, adding “Are you hungry? I want to treat you to some food because you won.” Ai grinned a bit flustered, but did not turn away, at least.

Rin didn't know whether to accept. He had to report to his coach, get back to Uni and we was kind of exhausted. And if he was completely honest, he would like to charge his phone, talk to his sister and even Haru. Because it still itched him to know if Haru really meant it. Then again, it was Ai. For him, Rin was the bestest senpai ever. Still. If Ai really looked up to him, he would understand that Rin wanted to have time alone right now.

“Ah, I'm really sorry, Ai, but I need to meet up with my coach and rest. Also, I have to report to my family as you see”, he nodded in direction of the phone. Ai seemed to understand but Rin saw the disappointment nonetheless and scratched his neck, feeling awkward. „That does not mean I wouldn't like to! I'd be glad you treated me some other time. I'll text you, okay?“

Ai looked a lot happier now and let Rin leave, who ran to his coach, wanting to get back to Uni as soon as possible. He couldn't wait to see his friends' and former school mates' text messages, congratulating him. And, since it was knock-out stages now, Rin would check the scores online to start actually working. He had completely forgotten Haru again.

  
  


About and hour and a half later, when he was done being congratulated and at the same time told to do better by is coach, he was finally left on his own in his university dorm where he could charge his phone. So he plugged it in, sat down at his desk and opened his shiny small laptop. In the small months it had been his, he had grown so attached to it that it had little photos of friends stuck to the outer case.

He went online and checked the score. Seeing his name on the top of the scoreboard made his pulse rise but that was not what he had come for. He wanted to check if there were any videos capturing him swimming, so he could rate himself. There only ever hardly were, and not today which made Rin really angry, thinking „It was the fucking quarter-final what did you guys do up there in the press section if not capturing the winners swimming?“

He stopped for a second. Did he really just say winners? As in, two of them? Although he was sure it hadn't been intentional, he liked the thought. And he began to grow increasingly pissed at the thought of the guys in the press section not capturing Haru, with his beautiful freestyle. Rin leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. How incompetent of a sports photographer did you have to be to not notice Haru? He closed the laptop and decided do have a nap.

It was still quite early which is why he decided to set an alarm, so he wouldn't miss dinner. So Rin got on his bed, snuggled into a blanket with his stuffed shark and reached out to set an alarm on his phone. His view had already started to blur from tiredness when he was done. Only then, however, did he realize that his notification bar was close to an explosion. He must have had 50 missed calls and twice as much text. Rin gritted his teeth. He could take care of the texts now, right? Couldn't be that much. A little 'thank you' here and a little 'I'm really looking forward to the next race' there would do it and then he could sleep.

In fact, he was already half-way through the texts (and half-asleep), when the 'sender' of the next one showed Haru's name. Rin opened it curiously, read it hastily- and jerked awake.

He read it again. Shit. Haru had wanted to meet him after the race, apparently. Shit, that had been for more than two hours now. He now noticed a few missed calls being from Haru. Although he couldn't figure out what exactly Haru would want to talk about Rin worried. Haru was not someone to text in general and the call several times, too? This must be serious business. Rin got up, put only his jacket on over his swimming trunks (he had forgotten to change) and grabbed his purse before heading out the door.

It was only at the exit of the dorm building that he stopped himself. Why was he doing this. He could just call back right? Rin checked his pockets fr his phone, realized that his swimming trunks didn't have any and went back into his room. He took the phone and tabbed the 'call option' next to Haru's name.

Haru picked up after the first ring, saying “Hello“. Rin felt immediately calm upon hearing his voice. No, he thought, Haru sounded al-right.

“Um, hi Haru its Rin, I saw you called me earlier and I read your text. I'm really sorry my phone died and I was only able to plug it in now.“

“It is okay, really.“

Rin closed eyes and scratched his neck. “I see. You said you wanted to meet up though. I'm really sorry I wasn't there. But if you still want to meet I am free(!) tomorrow afternoon so what do you say?“

Rin was almost by an entirely sure that Haru mumbled something on the other end of the line before hearing Haru's monotone voice answering „Yes. When and were should we meet.“

After sorting out the details, Rin hung up and squeezed his stuffed shark. Damn, Haru was so complicated sometimes, even though he seems like such a simple person. Growling annoyed, he remembered that he had already set up the alarm for dinner and decided to have a nap while he could.

  
  


Rin was super early the next day. He didn't really know why himself and he expected it to be more awkward. To be honest, he didn't even want to be here right now. But that didn't stop him from waiting there, at the meeting point, as if he was rooted in place.

Haru showed up a tiny bit late with wet hair, which he didn't apologize for. Rin almost got angry at him but decided to call him Haru-chan for the rest of the day, to tease him for what.

They strolled around the city and ended up at the ocean. Here, Rin wanted to finally start talking for real. But here, it became clear that Haru hadn't changed in terms of water-love. So as soon as Rin walked towards the beach and took his shoes off against the sand, actually to sit down by the water in the sand, Haru sprinted towards it, getting undressed too quickly for the naked eye to register and dove into the ocean.

Now Rin was getting angry. Of course this was Haru but he knew exactly that Haru was a very intelligent person, someone with the mental capability to withstand the water, and it really upset him that Haru apparently didn't bother to hold himself back, not even for five minutes of talk for clarification. Shit, he didnt even know what Haru wanted to talk about and now Haru had just left him standing here like an idiot.

By the way, Haru hadn't checked on Rin even once. He was swimming straight into the ocean, probably towards nothing. Although Rin admired Haru's courage to do so secretly, he couldn't stand it. If Haru had wanted to swim with him, okay, fine he would've done that. But what was this? Shaking with disappointment and rage, Rin turned his back towards the sea and walked back through the sand. He took his time, only slowly put on his shoes again. Yes, he was moving very slowly. He was still shaking with disappointment and the better part of him wanted to wait for Haru, to come back to the shore in time and to stop him from going and to talk to him.

It didn't happen, of course. Haru was still happily swimming when Rin went along the street, typing Haru a message.

'there is no talking to you, Haru. I thought this time you're serious.'

He felt bad sending this, but he was hurt.


	2. Two Gays for the Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fuss of last chapter, Rin calms down with his family.  
> Then he makes up with Haru. There is alcohol.

Spontaneously, and because he didn't feel like leaving this all behind and returning to Uni, Rin took the next train to his parent's home. It was only his second time visiting even though the term had begun half a year ago. He was not very good at sitting in a house he had lived in, answering questions about a future, his future, that he didn't realisticly know any answers for.

When he got there, he was very happy to see Kou-chan, his little sister. He only remembered the call they had had the day before when she opened the door. “Oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-chan“, she screamed excited before hugging him briefly and running inside “MUUUUUUUUUUUUM, RINS HERE“. She then gestured him to come inside.

A few minutes later, Rin was comfortably seated on the family sofa with a cup of tea, he had missed lunch, and his mother, while Kou was upstairs again, studying. This time, his Mum didn't ask about Uni. She was more curious why her first-born had decided to come by to visit all of a sudden. Rin answered her honestly, knowing that she would see through his lies immediately using her highly-skilled mum-powers.

“I was going to meet up with a friend in Iwatobi today but they left me standing there. I didn't want to waste the day completely and decided to stop by here, since I hardly get to do that.“ It was true but only half the truth. His mother understood though, and patted his head like she had done fifteen years ago, when he was a small boy.

It was true, although not the entire truth, and Rin was pretty sure her Mum-Senses © were alarming her, but she didn't comment on that. Rin's mother just patted his head and looked at him brightly. She seemed more aware of his situation than him. It could just be that the confusion and disappointment was written clearly over his face.

“I see why that dulled your day, darling.“, she started, still having an arm around her eldest. “it was really impolite of them to do that. But I'm sure you'll understand that they did that not to hurt you, but because they were really insecure. Or maybe something important came up. They will be back to their senses now andregret leaving you there. They are probably really sorry.“

Rin nodded silently. He didn't mind his mum comforting him like that. His mother was probably right.

Rin had been contemplating it all on the way home, but his mother haad just managed to sum it up pretty clearly.

“So...do you think I should talk to him? 'cause I don't wanna be left standing there again.” As his mother patted his head again, it dawned to Rin how genuinely hurt he felt. Just because Haru couldn't prioritize their friendship over water. Their friendship had been was unstable enough after all the drama in their school time. And Rin had hoped that they had resolved all that.

Haru had just messed it all up again. Rin could not think of anything he had done wrong. Rin sighed. It was no use.

His mother stood up and to make tea and he turned to the window, still spaced out.

While Rin had been talking to his mother and later helped Gou with her school work, the sun gently neared the horizon.

Rin's home village was snuggled onto the same mountains that Iwatobi was, but on the other side, facing a completely different part of the ocean. The ocean. Rin could see it from the living room. He could not say how many times he had sat here, staring at the the silver surface. So many times had he seen it turn into the most marvellous colours. As he admired this one, a brief memory shot into his head.

Rin saw himself, back to being a young boy, indentified the familiar surroundings as his home village's small harbour. Everything around him was dipped into the warm light and orange of a sunset and Rin remembered that he had been sent here to pick up his dad. It was autumn, so the sun had started setting early. Rin hadn't waited long. During the short wait, the every-moving but calm water had broken up several times. That was the first time he saw a real dolphin.

On the way back home, he had told his dad about them exitedly. He wasn't aware that his dad probably saw them each week. His dad didn't mind at all, happily listening to his son's cheerful description.

The clouds started to get a pink touch when Rin's mum called for her children to come for dinner, popping the bubble of memories Rin had gotten caught in.

“It's so good to have you here with us. I can't even remember the last time we had dinner together like a real family!“ Rin's mother announced cheerfully. Rin had to agree. But even though his mother had prepared spicy Chinese just like he loved it, he couldn't quite enjoy it all. His thoughts were now back with the Haru mystery.

“Rin, your phone is _rin_ ging!”, Gou said when they cleared the table. Rin finally caught himself and walked over hastily, picking up without checking for the caller.

It was Haru. Rin had mostly forgotten about earlier since he got home. It was so peaceful there. Now he caught himself breaking a sweat and excusing himself. He stepped outside and sat down in front of the door. What was this? He shouldn't be so shocked.

“So what do you say? Will you come over so I can properly apologize? Only now did Rin realize that apart from “Moshimoshi” he hadn't said anything..

“Yes. But Haru, I really want a genuine apology.”, Rin said after catching his breath.

“Then, can you over right now? Gou said you’re at home right now” Haru's bluntness irritated Rin. But he should be aware of what he owed Rin now, after all.

“OK, Haru.”, he said as warmly as he could.

“Cool. I'll make dinner then.”, surprising Rin with his eagerness. When had Haru become such a good host.

“Sure you do that. We already had some though. Didn't Gou tell you that, too?” Rin was close to throwing an apology behind that, but he wasn't all that sorry. The whole thing, now with Gou being involved too, frustrated him.

“I'll still make some”, Haru just ignored Rin's snapping.

“Anyway. Ill take the next train.”

“Sure, I'll be here”, Haru said, wrapping the call and probably already unpacking the mackerel for dinner.

That was so typical of Haru. “See you in a bit” He hoped that was understandable through his almost-gritted teeth.

They hung up and Rin hurried inside, nearly forgetting to take off his shoes. “Mum, I need to get back to Uni with the next train. I'm sorry but I'll be leaving now!”

Rin couldn't tell if his mother saw through that lie but he didn't care, he needed to get that train. The goodbyes ended up being very short, but he hoped he'd be able to explain it soon.

So he grabbed his bag and ran.

Once in Iwatobi, the excitement ad faded, leaving a nerve-wrecking nervousnes behind. It bothered Rin so much that he decided to get off the train one stop early, just to gain a bit time of walking on his own.

This way, he could stroll along the beach, hopefully that would calm him down.

Telling himself that he was afraid to be disappointed again definitely did not calm him just enough to settle. At some point, he just found himself knee-deep in the ocean, mindlessly staring at the horizon. He avoided the beach after that.

Still nervous for no good reason, he could barely concentrate on the road in front of him. Totally phased out.

So phased out that he didn't notice the person approaching him. Rin only saw it when the white grocery bag bummed against his shin, when Haru had to stop an inch in front of him. He only very closely hadn't been run over.

In the moment it took Rin to get back into this dimension mentally, Haru had taken a step back and realized something was wrong.

“You'll look kinda pale, Rin. Are you al-right?”

Rin shook his pale face, avoiding to look at Haru.

“You sure you don't rather go back to University?

Rin kept shaking his head. “Nah, I'm fine”, he said, not sure if that was at all convincing.

Haru didn't mind apparently, he turned around and started walking towards the path leading to his house.. Rin followed. The path would be too narrow for them to walk next to each other anyway.

“I bought stuff for dinner.” Haru raised the grocery bag in his hands.

Rin suppressed the urge to ask if it is mackerel. It was a weird situation. Haru was not usually someone to start a conversation or fill the silence with unnecessary information.

Rin knew that doing it just now must have made Haru felt really awkward, he immediately felt bad. He tried to be humorous to [entspannte] the situation.

“Did you get mackerel then”, he made it sound like friendly banter, somehow, even managing a smile.

“No, I got spicy sauce. I remembered to because you like hot sauce.” Haru said, with barely a tone in his voice. Rin swallowed.

“Thanks a lot, Haru.”, he breathed, instinctively raising his hand to touch Haru in the usual comforting Bro manner, but stopped himself. Rin was very glad Haru was walking in front of him. Oh god, what was he doing?

“Sorry for intruding” was the only thing he said in the next 15 minutes. Then Haru was done preparing dinner. Without Rin's help, because Rin found himself unable to and Haru didn't ask for it.

Neither did Rin have the brain to notice the food beyond its existence and mindlessly started eating his small plate. Haru had given him some of it for the taste, but Rin did not pay attention to it at all. Besides, he had immediately burned his tongue. Haru, who hadn't had the time to sit down yet, did so now and reached into the grocery bag from earlier.

He pulled out two beer cans, opened one and offered it to Rin who thankfully took it, nearly emptying it in one gulp. Only then did Rin set it down and saw that it's beer.

“What, booze? Haru, we're both under-age; what were you thinking?” He even forgot his nervousness for a second.

Haru looked away and scratched his neck. “I thought you wanted to celebrate...” Rin was almost sure he saw Haru blush there.

“You really shouldn't have, Haru.” Dammit, that 'Haru' had felt weird just now. Rin Quickly tried to cover it up. ”Besides, where did you even get this stuff? I mean its kinda – um – illegal?”

Haru just shrugged and went silent.

“Kampai”, Rin said finally, raising his beer.

“Kampai”, Haru returned, bumping his can into Rin's. He concentrated to much on that action that he forgot to look Rin in the eyes.

“How was the food, then?”

“It was really good, Haru. I had no idea you were such a great cook. You need to cook for me more often. If you want, that is, of course.

Haru shrugged. “I sure don't mind.”

“Awesome!” Rin now was in a really good mood, his mind was kinda fuzzy. He didn't mind though and set his empty can back on the table. So did Haru, but his was only half-empty.

Still, his voice sounded a bit slurry when he offered Rin a new can. “Be my guest”, he said, breaking what little resistance Rin had left.

“Thank you, but if I fall asleep, don't kick me out, okay?”

“Haha, sure thing” Haru smiled and blushed lightly. “Speaking of kicking you out, when will you have to be back at Uni tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is a Sunday, I don't have to be anywhere, silly” Rin reached out his hand to tap Haru's nose, dumbfounding him. Haru laughed, blushing more. It was adorable.

“Hey, Rin”, he said, still chuckling. “I know what we can drink to.” Rin raised an eyebrow and Haru chuckled anew.

Rin didn't think about how much of a lightweight Haru had to be, he was distracted by curiosity. As Rin did, Haru giggled, finally announcing in a festive tone, “Gays for the win!”

Rin nearly dropped his can in shock, then laughed.

“Gays for the win”, he returned in the same festive tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I feel like that one was even more RIn monolougue. Sorry about that. At least it has the faintest bit of plot.  
> I appreaciate comments, but you enjoying this is enough :D


	3. Three Gays for the Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wonderful morning, cats and a weird phone call.

Dusk had just passed, the first rays of sunlight were already luring the first cats out of their hiding. In front of Haru's porch they gathered, like every morning, waiting for Haru to come and give them breakfast.  
Rin woke up to their eagerly impatient meows, a ray of fresh sunlight tickling his nose and blinding him briefly when he lazily opened one eye.  
He sat up, careful and slow, and looked around the living room. The sight of at least ten empty beer cans shocked him and made him wonder, why he didn't have a fucking hangover. He couldn't remember how many of those cans he emptied.  
Rin also couldn't remember where Haru went. He genuinely hoped he was in his bedroom, and Rin didn't care. He just didn't want to share his morning wood with Haru.  
So he stood up carefully, still expecting the hangover to kick in. Which didn't happen. Rin was feeling great when he left the bathroom for the kitchen. He unchangedly felt great when he filled a bowl for the cats and set it on the porch. It also felt great when the cats came for snuggles.  
Haru sat next to him at some point, picked up a brown cat with white marks and buried his nose in it's fluffy fur.  
Rin was just about to point out how cute that was, when he was startled by a sudden ringing noise. He flinched and in the blink of an eye, the all cats had disappeared, including Haru, who went inside to pick up the phone. Rin sighed, took the empty cat bowl inside and started doing the dishes until Haru would be done talking. What he didn't expect though, was Haru coming up next to him, the phone on speakers and gesturing him to be quiet.  
“So are the two of you coming tonight?”, a familiar voice asked.  
“What for? And when?”, Rin stammered surprised, still not quite able to place the person on the other end.  
“Well, we have news for you and Gou! We wanted to invite you to a nice dinner. Is today al-right? We'd meet at the restaurant. So, what do you say?” Rin exhaled and ruffled his hand through his hair, so confused he doesn't care about the dish-soap still on them. The fact that he still hadn't figured out who he was talking to really didn't help.  
“I guess I can call university and tell them I'll be late.” Rin heard a slight sigh of relief from the phone and before he could clarify who was on the other end, Haru put the call on silent.  
He said, “I'll be there. See you.” With the tiniest exclamation mark, which surprised Rin. Haru put the phone away and returned. “Do you have any idea what she meant with 'good news'?”, asked Haru, looking up at Rin.  
“I don't even know who the fuck I just talked to.” Rin laughed. “And I smeared dish-soap in my hair...” “You numty”, Haru said, doing his kind of chuckling. “Ill go prepare a bath for you, do you mind finishing the dishes, since you're” he paused to chuckle “so into it.” Rin growled jokingly but nodded and Haru left.  
When Rin was done, he didn't bother drying his hands and sneaked into the bathroom, where Haru sat on the edge of the tub, fingers checking the temperature. He was wearing the most peaceful impression on his face.  
Rin felt the urge to jump-scare Haru with his wet hands, but he stopped to wonder how the hell Haru was not sitting in the tub already.  
“Haru, don't you want to get in, too” At least he jump-scared Haru now, although asking as softly as he could. Haru turned around startled. He blushed a bit. It was awkward, but Haru wouldn't turn an opportunity to water. He stood up to take off his Pjs and Rin turned around, pulling his shirt off.  
He kind of hoped he would be lend some clothes later. And while he was at it, it would be nice if Haru was wearing his obligatory swimming trunks. It would be so awkward if he didn't.  
Rin finally turned around unclothed and paused at the sight of Haru. If he had looked completely peaceful before, he had now melted into the tub, closed his eyes. It was a marvelous sight and Rin would gladly give Haru a bit more time to enjoy it by himself. So he takes his time washing his hair, dish soap and all.  
“So, who was that on the phone now”, Rin asked while he tried to settle in the bathtub, distracting himself from the fact that he was naked in front of Haru.  
“Are you serious? You really couldn't tell before?” Haru opened one eye and smile a tiny bit. Damn, Rin had to admit, that really looked sexy.  
Rin shrugged and Haru imitated the gesture exaggeratedly, stirring the water around them. Rin returned that, it went back and forth for a while until Haru settled back against the tub, the water calming with him.  
“It was your mother, silly.”, he finally answered.  
Rin couldn't believe he had just talked to his mother without knowing? How on earth had he not recognized her?  
And maybe most importantly, why would she call Haru on a Sunday morning and invite Haru for dinner? There was no way for her to know Rin was here, and she invited them both, after all.  
“She didn't tell you what she wanted either...hmm” Rin was suspicious of Haru now. “No”, was the plain answer. Then Haru opened his eyes to look at Rin fiercely.  
“I'm hungry. We didn't have breakfast yet.” And with no more words, he got out the tub, grabbed a towel while walking out and saying “take your time” before sliding the door shut behind himself.  
Rin couldn't relax, though, before he knew what it was with his mother. So he joined Haru with preparing breakfast.  
They talked about this and that, mostly about swimming and studies. Haru had taken a part-time job as a cook but always took the time to go swimming in the evening. Rin was a bit envious Haru had a place to stay, he earned money and still had time to swim. Rin lived in a small dorm, had to study all day and some nights.  
The little time he had, was spent training. Of course he loed swimming and he wanted to be good at it, aiming for the Olympics and all. But in that moment, on that first free weekend he had in this year, it dawned to him that he was quite unhappy with his life. He was studying sports, but what would he do once he couldn't keep his physical condition up to competitive level? He would eventually get old. What would happen to him then? He didn't want to be a fisherman like his dad, hell na.  
What would he do with a bachelor in Sports? Thats nothing you can get real jobs with.  
“What's wrong?” Haru asked. By now, they just by the beach, Rin completely spaced out. Now the soothing [sound] of the waves washed him back on shore. Back to reality.  
“What's wrong, Rin? I don’t want you to drown because you’re to gloomy.” Haru's voice sounded legitimately worried and he even had it show on his face. Rin couldn't stand the milkiness that the concern gave his sapphire eyes. He put on the most genuine smile he could manage Just thinking about my future is all. What you do at this age”.  
Haru's expression changed from worried to soothing, creating a perfect harmony with the beach and sea around them.  
“Don't worry. Even I found something. You will make up your mind, eventually.” He raised his hand and touched Rin's arm, shyly, in a reassuring gesture. Rin smile deepened and he felt his chest widen. He was glad to be here with Haru. Rin realized, that after all this time, he wanted Haru to be his friend.  
“Let's swim then. Are you up for a race?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> This one's a bit shorter, but I like the way it wrapped up at the end. Rin is gloomy as always but I think its alright in this one.  
> As always, feedback in the comments would be amazing ~


	4. Four Gays for the Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A revelation is made.  
> It makes Rin think back to what could have been and think ahead to a bright future.

Rin felt very underdressed. If only he had known that his mum would invite them to this chic place beforehand, he definitely would have taken a suit with him when he had been home the day before. But now here he was, in a high-class restaurant, in a baggy T-shirt and jeans. Even Haru, the inventor of comfortable clothing in public, was wearing a plain light blue shirt and appropriate trousers.

And so they sat on a table, which was reserved on Matsuoka _and_ Nanase, for some reason, and waited. Finally, Gou stepped towards them, smiling. She let herself fall on a chair next to Haru and sighed.

“Those two, seriously. First they insist not to tell me before they tell you and then they run late. Ugh!” She paused to turn back to the waitress and order a Sprite, then turned back to their confused faces. “And to top it off, they started arguing in the car.” She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Anyway, did you guys get here al-right?”

Rin shrugged, Haru too “I was at Haru's place, you know.”

“Ah, OK” Gou also shrugged.

Rin stood up after another minute of silence, excusing himself to the bathroom. When washing his hands afterwards, he felt his phone buzz. It was a message from Haru. Shocked by the “help” and the fact that Haru had a phone as well as his number, Rin almost stormed through the restaurant. He could not have cared less for his hooligan appearance.

Only when he saw the situation Haru was in did he calm down abruptly. Haru and Gou had been finally joined by his mother, to no surprise, but also by a middle-aged smiling man who had his hand on Haru's shoulder.

Rin stood there for a moment, until his mind had slowly made the connection. Could it be that that fairly small man with too much weight on his hips and a cosmopolitan face was Haru's dad? All his doubts were gone when the man turned to face him, still smiling, but with completely opened [or 'open'?]eyes.

They were brightly shining blue, like Haru's however the colour was brighter so Rin didn’t find himself reminded of the ocean but of a clear garden pond and half-expected a Koi to come and swim through them.

He stammered an answer to Haru's father's greetings and sat down next to Haru. They exchanged insecure and panicked looks and Rin suppressed the urge to a) comfort Haru and b) speak up and ask what the fuck was going on.

“Since we haven't met yet, Rin-kun, I am pleased to meet you. My name is Nanase Mikage and I am Haru-kun's proud father.

Rin bowed as well as possible on his chair and politely responded, feeling stupid when he introduced himself, after being addressed by his name already. Everyone sat down and Rin used the opportunity to ask Haru if he was al-right, as he still was kind of frozen.

Only when Rin touched his arm gently to bring him back did Haru snap for air. “Sorry about that”, he said, mostly to himself. “I'm fine now. I was just surprised.” Rin removed the hand from Haru's arm and turned to the conversation that was currently starting.

“Don’t you want to tell them now? Why are you letting us wait?”, Gou had just asked her mother.

“Gou, darling, please let us decide when we tell them. Besides, why are you complaining? You were the first one to know.”, her mother reasoned her, before her gaze softened and those blood-red eyes shifted to Rin, and she smiled at him and Haru brightly.

Rin was not used to this sight coming from his mother, not since the sea had taken his dad. That made him freeze up for however long it took for Haru to return that dazzling smile. Rin dove up from the twisted thoughts that had taken him over there. Seeing Haru smile like that -without any reason to smile like that as well- stirred something deep within him. He couldn't help himself- he grinned automatically, could almost feel happy tears gathering in his eyes. Rin could now turn to his mother naturally, mirroring her happiness. The whole thing must have looked incredibly goofy, he heard Gou snicker behind her napkin.

The waiter came to fetch all their drink orders and bring menus just in time for her not to become obvious. As they studied their menus in silence, Rin felt watched watched on several occasions, just to look up and find everyone still choosing. Then the waiter came for their orders and Rin felt Gou tensing in anticipation when his mother straightened. He felt the need to grasp for Haru and when he twitched in Haru's direction, he felt Haru do the same.

But the entire thing was rather unsettling. Both their parents had invited them out of the blue, and meeting Haru's father, which Haru did not seem any more with than Rin was. And then there were those “news”. News that required them both and Gou and Haru's father to be present. Rin shivered a bit, but forced himself not to leave reality just now. He had to hear this. His mother cleared her throat and Rin stopped breathing until she started talking, lovingly and plain like a mother, and he listened.

[Skip Forward]

When Rin left the restaurant with everyone about an hour later, his head was very fuzzy. He couldn't tell if it was from all the organization and information about wedding cakes or from the sparkling wine they had had to celebrate his mother's engagement. His mother's engagement with the father of his childhood friend.

That friend was now standing next to him, looking similarly overwhelmed. Haru had ordered a second glass of champagne, he probably had problems getting in terms with that engagement.

The group stood in front of the restaurant and while Haru played mute, they planned for Rin to stay at Haru's for another night before saying their goodbyes. Haru neutrally articulated agreement to everything before they split up and the two of Haru and Rin turned to the way along the beach that would get them to Haru's.

“Shit, Haru. This is so crazy.”, Rin said as soon as they were out of hearing range. He started ruffling his hair. The last time he had felt this unsettled was before meeting Haru in the Iwatobi SC after his return from Australia. He was emotional, sure, but now he was legit messed up.

What were the odds of two people coming from Iwatobi, somewhere near Japan's ass-hole, to meet? Especially with one living in the States for work, and even more specifically, with their children having been childhood buddies but without them actually being involved in the meeting. Rin shook his head. That didn't help at all.

Haru sighed next to him, with the hint of his head shaking.

“Yeah, same.” Rin sighed.

Rin went through the events of the last hour again. It made him ruffle his hair again, but he had to smile as well.

“Hey, Haru”, he smirked, amused by Haru's head bolting up, “don’t think I didn’t hear what you said when we were clinking glasses.” He turned to Haru, redoing the gesture when he bumped Haru's arm, chanting “Gays for the win!”

Haru raised his hand to scratch his nose, attempting to hide a relatively broad smile behind it. It made Rin laugh even more.

Suddenly he felt a swoosh next to him and felt his sister pop up. Of course he didn't hear her come with that laughter of his. He joined Haru in scratching his nose awkwardly.

“So what do you guys say?”, she asked excitedly, looks twitching between the two of them.

“It's weird”, Haru let hear from beneath his nose-scratching hand. Rin nodded in agreement. “You can understand that it would be quite weird for your childhood buddy to suddenly be your stepbrother because your mum, who you haven't seen express romantic feelings in ten-ish years, decided to go down on said friend's dad, who the said friend also hadn't seen in ten years.” After finishing, Rin realized how blunt that had been. He felt himself go red. Scratching his nose more frantically, he noticed that the others also blushed.

“Geez, Onee-chan, can you not say something like that about our mother?”, Gou muttered. He heard Haru sigh and agreed. It was quite a scary thought.

To take his mind off it, he concentrated on the way they were taking to Haru's. “Wait, Gou, what're you doing here?”, he suddenly asked, “weren't you supposed to get a ride home by mum?”

Gou grinned; “yeah, actually. But I had to talk to you about this first. I mean it is a crazy coincidence. And to be honest, to think that my new stepbrother could be some pervy stranger. So I am actually glad it's you, Haru! Too bad this didn't happen a few years beforehand! We could have walked to school together and we'd even been in the same school club.”

“I guess you're right.” Haru said peacefully, finally lowering his hand, leaving red marks on his nose. Rin really liked the idea now. “Yeah. Actually, it's a shame that it didn’t happen before, then I had enrolled in the same school as you. That might have been fun.”, he smiled.

He felt Gou look at him with wide eyes for a moment, then she had found another conversation topic. “So as the wedding is in a month, can we count on your help? You should be able to plan so far ahead, right?”

“Haha, sure. It has to be on a weekend because of uni, but I'll be there to help.” Rin gladly took the opportunity. It sounded better than studying, that was sure. He squeezed his sister's shoulder reassuringly “Don't worry, Gou-chan, we'll be there to help, won't we, Haru-chan?”

Haru growled in response to the “-chan” but nodded enthusiastically.

“Yay!”, Gou exclaimed, looking relieved. “I was afraid they'd make me do everything. I cannot taste all of the wedding cakes and do the decoration by myself. Thank you guys!”

“Maybe you can ask Rei if he'd help you with the decoration. He would be good at something like that.”, Rin thought aloud.

“But then we got to get Nagisa for the wedding cake”, Gou added, chuckling.

Rin agreed and saw Haru nod with a slight smile on his lips.

Now, this whole wedding thing didn't seem half bad any-more. Maybe it would be quite a bit of fun. And it might mean he can spend more time with Haru. He had to challenge him to a race on the wedding. Rin didn't stop himself to think that's romantic. He probably wouldn't have cared. He only stopped when Gou next to him did.

“Shit, what am I doing?” she had suddenly gotten pale.“They are waiting for me at the restaurant. Argh, I need that ride! I'll better run. See you later!” Rin remembered now too.

“Right. Restaurant” Haru said, making weird noises. Rin interpreted them as laughing. “Yeah. We're just coming back from dinner, Haru. I totally forgot myself.”

He was still smiling about his sister's incompetence when he pulled his shoes off. They sat down on the porch. For a bit, it was quiet. Rin thought he heard a faint meowing from time to time. The evening felt really nice and peaceful. Still, Rin did not feel like he could be sleeping any time soon. His head was still a bit fuzzy.

Suddenly, Haru stood. “I'm making tea. You want some?”-”Sure” Rin listened to that homely feel of clattering dishes from the kitchen. It was then that he realized they still hadn't talked about where Haru's “Gays for the win” had been coming from.

Just when Haru stepped back out with tea and a water bottle, Rin started feeling uncomfortable in his presence. It was rediculous, really. As a queer person to feel threatened because the person next to you is gay. The problem, it seemed, was more that he had no idea how many people Haru had told. Rin couldn't have been the only one? Neither did he know how serious Haru was about all that. Rin was starting to get a headache from this. He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Here”, Haru offered him the water bottle. ”I kinda saw it coming with how much alcohol the has been and how we're not used to it.”

Rin took it and drank, just so he wouldn't have to look at Haru. Knowing how ridiculous his fears were, that didn't help. But there was no way he could ask Haru about it right here. After what had been revealed to them earlier, Rin didn't want to upset Haru or himself even more.

So he set the bottle down, shifted into a more comfortable position and took a cup of tea. Snuggling the small clay cup in his hand and mindlessly staring into the dark green liquid, Rin tried to order his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter  
> All feedback is greatly appreciated! much love to y'all
> 
> (also shout-out to the guys having left Kudos or commented so far I love you)


	5. Five Gays for the Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ai Nitori finally gets Rin to have lunch with him, much to their enjoyment.

It was Haru who finally broke the silence. He coughed after taking a sip from his tea which he had kept in his lap much like Rin. “It's gone cold.”

Rin tried some of his. “Yep. Still very nice though. It's too warm for tea anyway.” That apparently hurt Haru's confidence as a host and he awkwardly started scratching his nose again. That really looked like it hurt.

“Hey, stop that” Rin said softly, taking Haru's hand and putting it down on the porch between them. “That must hurt. Don’t do that.”

“Hey, its nothing serious. Relax.”, Haru turned away from him. At that point the sun had disappeared over the garden wall and the light was too scarce to make out his expression. Not like Haru expressed himself in the first place.

Rin felt that it was no use. He leaned back and hoped for the cats to come here for distraction. He would love to see that spotted one again.

“Rin.” The way Haru said it, it didn’t sound real. It didn’t sound like his name, it sounded like a failed explanation.

“I can tell that you’re really tense. And that’s probably because of that thing you always say before races.”- Haru shivered thinking about it and Rin could tell that there was no way for him to make Haru say it now - “and I thought it was not good to take that from you. It's your thing. And your the one who should decide where to openly be gay. And stuff.”

Rin thought his jaw had dropped. That was most definitely the longest speech he's heard of Haru. His throat was dry. He emptied the tea cup. He swallowed, thinking about what to say now.

“I never thought about it that way. I guess you are right, since it was my thing. I didn't mind you joining in at all though. Hands down, it was great.” Rin stopped to smile at Haru, then stared in his lap. The next part would be awkward.

“I just did not expect you to be so openly gay. Or gay, for that matter.” He squeezed his eyes shut and could only in the last second stop himself from scratching his nose. Don't be a bad role model, Rin. Why was he even the one feeling embarrassed?

“I...I never told anyone. I'm sorry. That was a bit of a shock, then, huh?” Rin looked to the side, where Haru looked at him calmly.

“Should I really be the one to be told first?” Rin wondered. He had abandoned Haru back then, after all. In the past few years, he also hadn't even put a bit effort into being good friends with Haru. He didn't feel like he deserved the trust to be the first to know.

“Who else would I have told? You can't tell Rei or Nagisa anything, and Gou, well, that wouldn’t feel right.” It was so obvious Haru had left Makoto out of that list. Rin felt bad asking about him.

Haru responded with a twitch, but quickly relaxed. “He was the first to know, I guess. But I told you voluntary.”

Rin nodded, understanding. Those two had always been close. Makoto had always known Haru better than Haru himself had. Makoto would figure that out.

Then Rin's head bolted up. What if Makoto hadn't figured it out, but tried it, rather? A brief image of Haru and Makoto kissing crossed his mind and he jumped. That was an awful thought.

What those two did on their own would be entirely up to them, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? He felt like his reaction to the idea was trying to signal otherwise.

“Rin?” Haru touched is thigh. Haru was still sitting, looking up worried and tugging at Rin's jeans to pull his down. Only when Rin sat again was he close enough to see how pale Haru was. He was probably no better but his guts twisted. “I'm sorry. It really is none of my business. Just Yours and Makoto's.”

An awkward silence followed. Rin was almost glad when Haru shifted, thinking he would go inside and end this. Haru just took his empty cup and set it next to his on a tablet. It went silent again and stayed like that for a solid five minutes, in which Rin died internally.

He felt cold now that the sun had set. After he shivered a few times, he took the excuse and went inside, taking the tablet with him. He busied himself with washing them up, just to do something. This was nerve-wrecking. Rin didn't know how Haru felt, hoping that he didn't notice and worry now.

“Haru, where do the cups go? Rin said, turning around. Haru took them out of his hands and put them in some cupboard.

He then cleared his throat. “You wanna head to bed then?”

Rin nodded. It was for the better. The two of them staying up together would not work out. As horrible as that thought was, it would only make things more awkward right now.

* * *

 

He couldn't sleep. Of course he couldn’t sleep. He was having gay problems with the guy who was going to be his stepbrother in a month. He was glad he didn't share Haru's room that night because like this, he could go back downstairs on the porch.

Hoping Haru hadn't heard him slip downstairs and out of the door, he made himself comfortable with the blanket he had brought. Looking at the starts was nice for a while but did not help distracting him from his fuzzy thoughts at all so he took out his phone in search of distraction. Rin jumped at the amount of messages he saw.

Half of them would be Nitori, but he was curious and a bit desperate.

Having told Nitori a date when they would finally have their lunch together, and scolding him for still being up when Nitori answered, he realized that he just got those messages because he apparently had Haru's house's wifi. Despite not having known Haru even had wifi, he was very surprised to be able to access it.

He checked, but it was a secured network, so he must have been given the password. And by Haru, obviously. Rin sat up, furrowing his brows in confusion.

When had Haru given him the code? He could not remember at all. Which, now that he thought about it, only left the last evening as a possible opportunity.

Now that Rin tried to think back to it, he remembered nothing from the “Gays for the Win” onwards. It must have been the beer, as Rin was not used to alcohol at all. It didn't make sense though, because he hadn't had enough to have a hangover today, so how would it have been enough for him not to recall anything of that evening?

While Rin settled back on the blanket, the thought passed his mind that perhaps Haru had put something in the beer or -even easier- the food. He quickly threw that thought away. That was ridiculous. He felt bad for even thinking that Haru would do something like that.

But maybe- just maybe, Makoto had told Haru to get rid of Rin so he could have Haru all to himself. If they had something going on between them, Rin continued, he would definitely be in the way. And he couldn't really blame Makoto to want to get rid of him. Rin had always been in the way of their friendship, hadn't he. He didn't even want to be in the way of their relationship.

Rin was in a weird state of mind, but continued without hesitation. Now Rin had come to visit and just stay overnight uninvited, with Makoto not around. Of course he would snap and set Rin to rest, get his boyfriend out of danger. Rin would have probably done the same. It was such a romantic thing to do that Rin smiled a bit.

He regained consciousness soon though and whispered “what the fuck, man” to himself. It wasn't his business, after all. And Makoto would not do something like that. Neither would Haru. Rin shook is head. What was he thinking?

The whole thing had gotten him quite worked up, he was dead tired now. After resettling in the blanket and yawning sleepily, he closed his eyes, facing the garden.

* * *

 

Today was probably going to be the last hot day of the year. The last three weeks had been quite cold for the season, so Rin was glad when he left his lecture room for a warm and sunny morning. He closed his eyes, catching his breath and letting the warm breeze caress his features.

That moment of peace was rudely interrupted my Ai Nitori who had suddenly come up to him and, now that he saw he interrupted Rin's moment, looked genuinely scared.

“I'm sorry, senpai”, Nitori said, suddenly very interested in his shoes. “I didn't mean to- just...well the semi-final was last weekend and- you already promised to have lunch with me at the quarter-finals. So-if you don't mind- would you go have lunch with me after the next lecture.”

Rin grinned. He adored Nitori. Ai was cute in a way, although he was completely annoying at times. But he was always there to help his senpai, which Rin really appreciated. It was a great coincidence that Ai had ended up at the same university he went to. Knowing Ai, it probably wasn't even a coincidence, but Rin didn't feel bothered by it.

“Of course, Nitori-kun. Where will we meet?”

An hour and a half later, Ai led him to what he had presented to Rin as the best diner place in the city. Rin still had the decency to hold the door open for Nitori, who entered with pink cheeks.

After receiving their food, they were sat at a window table. Because the conversation was slowing down, Rin casually asked about Ai's training, as he hadn't seen him at the swimming pool in a while.

It took Ai four minutes to answer, in which he burned his tongue on on some omelette, chugged at his drink to compensate and continued to cough. Rin watched helplessly as Ai struggled to breathe, gulped and finally cleared his throat to speak.

“Well, uh, Makoto asked me to help at the swim club once, and it was real fun to coach the kids, so I ended up going really often”, he began, earning himself a raised eyebrow from Rin, his voice still a bit raspy, and paused, his excitedly shining eyes darkening. “But last week, Sousuke picked Makoto up for a date or something after- well when he saw me, he got all grumpy and he asked Makoto 'what does Nitori have to teach them' all high and mighty. And Makoto didn't answer and I was really shocked and it was so mean and I can't sleep now- I mean I know I’m not the best-”

“Hold it right there.” Rin interrupted. He was overwhelmed with Ai's sudden flow of words but although he thought that Ai's impression of Sousuke was adorable, he couldn't sit and watch while Nitori was beating himself up over this.

“That was a really shitty thing to say. And it's not even true. You know it, Ai, he wasn't serious. Out of Sousuke and Ai Nitori, you were the one to get into Tokyo's best university and join their well-known swimming team.” Rin had loked at Ai fiercely while he spoke, getting fired up for his younger friend. Now he calmed himself down before explaining further.

“All the while, Sousuke is still struggling to swim in the first place because he ruined himself with a ridiculous training schedule. What do you think _he_ could teach those kids? To push themselves until their body forces them to stop? I know he has learned from his mistakes, and he's working on fixing his body, but you, Nitori, can gently show those kids that their efforts will pay off. I think you're a great coach, Ai. I also think that Sousuke knows that. He might even envy the patience that you have. I could understand that.”

Now Rin was a little out of breath. He would maybe apologize to Sousuke later for telling Ai all of this, but right now, he cared slightly more for his anxious friend's emotional well-being. He hardly saw Sousuke anyway, Makoto and business school was keeping him busy nowadays.

“Woah. Thank you...you really think I can be a good swimming coach?” Ai asked all flustered. Rin couldn't help but smile at how adorable this young man was and nodded. He had meant every word.

Ai reacted with a happy noise before he offered Rin some (cooled down) omelette as a sort of thanks. Who was Rin to refuse? It couldn't compare to Haru's breakfast omelette though, Rin caught himself thinking.

“Oh. I need to call Haru”, Rin mumbled to himself when the thought popped into his conscious.

“Now?” Ai's voice before him sounded a little hurt, making Rin aware that leaving in the middle of lunch to call Haru, of all people, would be the rudest thing Rin could do to Ai. It wasn't urgent anyway.

Despite Rin's outmost attempts, Ai could not be stopped from paying for Rin and he made a mental note to buy Ai some candy as thanks. That man loved candy and he really deserved it.

Rin had an image of Ai sharing that candy with the kids he would coach in mind when the two of them said their good-byes and split up for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! And you though I was gone...  
> Thank you for reading and following up on this after those three! months! I hop you enjoyed ♥  
> Sorry for the long break, school kind of got the better of me and life happened. Whoops.


End file.
